rented room

adamski426

Hi my girlfriend is renting a room in a multi room house and it has no heating, it is very damp and her clothes and things get ruined in the winter she has been there two years and nothing has been done, she pays £75 pounds a week to live there and at the winter uses £20-£30 pounds to heat it is this right, last night i could see the cieling was shiney due to the dampness/water getting in. thank you

Jowo_2

Why doesn't she move out to a better place?!

Is she opening up the window to ventilate her room? Does she dry her clothes in there? Is there an obvious building defect, such as leaky guttering on the wall outside, leaky roof, leaky pipe?

Are you saying there isn't any central heating, or that there is a form of heating but it's inefficient and costly or that the heating in the room is broken? Is this £20 or £30 a month? A person in a self-contained property with exclusive bills would probably have to budget around double that for gas and electricity usage.

adamski426

she cant afford it, and if she opens the window she has to sit there with 4 layers of clothes on and is still freezing. apparently there is a defect in the roof, but i think its more to do with bad ventilation, she drys her clothers out of her room, but if she leaves the window closed it gets so wet water runs from it, books and clothes feel damp all the time and mould grows on her shoes and clothes and things, its 20-30 a week just to keep warm, there is no heating what so ever.

adamski426

thats not including the money she has to put in to use the shower and cooker and lights out of her room

G_M

she has been there two years

Why on earth is she still there?

The LL has a duty to provide heating. I'm unclear if there is any.

That amount of water is strange. Is it coming in from outside (leaking roof/window etc) or generated inside?

apparently there is a defect in the roof, but i think its more to do with bad ventilation,

If it's ventilation, it is also about generating water vapour. Does she cook in the room? Hang wet clothes? Is there an adjoining shower? The water must come from somewhere - that amount is not just coming from exhailation.

adamski426

as i said she cannot afford to leave yet, she is trying but spending to much on heating the place, it seams as though a lot of the damp is coming through the cieling and into the room. outside her room, all the windows are open all the time as you cannot shut them due the the water coming. There is no heating at all in the house apart from the little heater she has. it is strange.

adamski426

no she does not cook, hang washing up in there or have a shower or sink in it.

PasturesNew

Quickest fix would be to buy a dehumidifier. It'll remove all the dampness and should reduce the heating bill too. Can try to get one free from freecycle/similar, or bite the bullet and pick one up on ebay/local DIY store.

adamski426

i got her a couple of the rechargable one that use gel, do you think she would be better with an electric one?

PasturesNew

Definitely. Get a proper electric one; you'll probably find she's extracting 5 litres/day. I had a dehumidifier once, from a room that just "seemed as if it smelt a tiiiiny bit" - and that was sucking 2 litres or more per day for at least a week before I took the dehumidifier out to other rooms I felt could use it.

Go to the DIY board here, for suggestions/recommendations.

adamski426

thank you i will do that.